Them's The Breaks

description

Them’s The Breaks is a new feature documentary following a movement in Ireland which attempts to tackle gender inequality, particularly in the Arts sector.

In October 2015, The Abbey Theatre announced their much anticipated “Waking the Nation” 2016 Centenary Programme. There was just one thing missing.... Diversity.

The Abbey Theatre’s inclusion of only one female playwright out of ten in their 2016 centenary programme, sparked confusion, anger and indignation, and led to the establishment of #WakingTheFeminists; a movement which has attracted support from Meryl Streep and Saoirse Ronan among others, and has inspired a new generation of young feminists.

Them’s The Breaks is a film about equality, bravery and the vision for a more inclusive future for Irish people. This film seeks to open up a discussion about feminism becoming all the more relevant to a new generation in Ireland. We want to document the changes and efforts being made to combat this unconscious bias - not just in Irish theatre - but across the entire Arts industry. The film will explore what we hope will be an exhilarating new chapter in the Irish Arts.

This film has the potential to make a real contribution to the conversation surrounding women’s (including trans*) rights in Ireland as the battle rages on for equality in the Arts surrounding issues such as equal opportunities and equal pay.

WHAT’S THE MONEY FOR?

We’re an independent production, so we’re relying on help from as many of you feminists as possible!

Your money will be used for post-production, editing, sound equipment, archive and music licensing as well as graphic and animation design. To make it a little incentivising for you, we’re offering some savage rewards. This is your opportunity to get involved with our project and be part of an exciting time for women and the Arts in Ireland. Your contribution makes all the difference.

This €10,000 target is our first step in securing funding for this film, but this in no way reflects the full costs of production! This €10k will afford us the means to keep filming as the movement unfolds before us. The overall budget stands closer to €50k which we intend to finance through other means. But this €10k will ensure we don’t miss an opportunity along the way!

So please support us in whatever way you can to make this film a reality - choose a perk that catches your eyes, share our campaign with friends and family who would be interested in the cause, like us on Facebook & Twitter and join the conversation.

The Them’s The Breaks team are director Sarah Corcoran, Producers Sarah Barr and Aoife Kelly and Writer Stephen Elliott. The team originally formed after completing the MA in Film & TV in DCU, and went on to combine their work in theatre production, screenwriting, filmmaking and production with their experiences with BBC, Universal Pictures, The IFI, Bl!nder Films and iDare Media to embark on this exciting new feature length documentary project.

rewards

Fund €10+

THANK YOU: A huge thank you from the team, a shoutout on social media and an exclusive Them's The Breaks badge for you to wear with pride to all your feminist get togethers.

Fund €25+

THEM'S THE BREAKS PANEL DISCUSSION: You will receive a ticket to an exclusive Them's The Breaks themed panel discussion with special guest speakers in Dublin in Autumn 2016, as well as a huge thank you from the team, a shoutout on social media and a very cool Them's The Breaks badge.

Fund €50+

HD DOWNLOAD + CREDITS PERK: You will receive a HD download of the film directly to your inbox,a digital download of the film's soundtrack and your name listed as a funder in the film's end credits, as well as a huge thank you, a shoutout on social media, a very cool Them's The Breaks Badge, 2 x tickets to an exclusive Them's The Breaks themed panel discussion with special guest speakers in Dublin in Autumn 2016.

Fund €100+

THEM'S THE BREAKS DVD: You will receive a funder exclusive DVD with exclusive bonus features and unseen footage. You will also receive a huge thank you, a shoutout on social media, a very cool Them's The Breaks Badge, 2 x tickets to an exclusive Them's The Breaks themed panel discussion with special guest speakers in Dublin in Autumn 2016, a HD digital download and your name listed as a funder in the film's end credits.

Fund €150+

FILMMAKING WORKSHOP: You will receive a place in our half day filmmaking workshop presented by the Them's The Breaks team which will focus on storytelling, crowdfunding, production and post production, with a strong focus on the role of women, as well as 2 x tickets to an exclusive Them's The Breaks themed panel discussion with special guest speakers in Dublin in Autumn 2016 and the DVD package. You will also receive a huge thank you, a shoutout on social media, a badge, a HD digital download and your name listed as a funder in our end credits.

10 Available

Fund €250+

THEM'S THE BREAKS EXCLUSIVE SCREENING + POSTER: You will receive 2 x tickets to the world premiere of Them's The Breaks and a copy of the film's poster. You will also receive a huge thank you, a shoutout on social media, a badge, a HD download of the completed movie, a digital download of the film's soundtrack, your name listed as a funder in our end credits, 2 x tickets to an exclusive Them's The Breaks themed panel discussion with special guest speakers in Dublin in Autumn 2016, and a funder exclusive DVD with special bonus features and unseen footage.

20 Available

Fund €500+

THE BUSINESS PERK: We will feature your business' logo in our credits as a significant supporter of the film. You will also receive a huge thank you, a shoutout on social media, a badge, digital download, your name listed as a funder in our end credits, 2 x tickets to an exclusive Them's The Breaks themed panel discussion, the DVD package, 2 x tickets to the world premiere of Them's The Breaks and a copy of the film's poster.

19 Available

Fund €1000+

THE ASSOCIATE PRODUCER PERK: You will be credited as an Associate Producer in the film's credits.You will also receive a huge thank you, a shoutout on social media, a badge, a HD download, your name listed as a funder, 2 x tickets to an exclusive Them's The Breaks themed panel discussion with special guest speakers in Dublin in Autumn 2016, and a funder exclusive DVD with special bonus features and unseen footage, 4 x tickets to the world premiere of Them's The Breaks and a copy of the film's poster.

5 Available

Fund €2000+

THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER PERK: You will be credited as an Executive Producer in the film's credits. You will also receive a huge thank you, a shoutout on social media, a badge, a HD download, your name listed as a funder, 2 x tickets to an exclusive Them's The Breaks themed panel discussion with special guest speakers in Dublin in Autumn 2016, and a funder exclusive DVD with special bonus features and unseen footage, 4 x tickets to the world premiere of Them's The Breaks and a copy of the film's poster.

3 Available

activity

Your Perks from 'Them's The Breaks'!

Update posted on Tuesday 10th May '16 @ 03:05:09

Hi Everyone!
Just a quick email from us regarding your perks!
Everyone who funded the project is entitled to a shiny 'Them's The Breaks' badge. We're so excited to send them to you! But, first if all, we just need you to send us your postal address so we can get them to you pronto!
Please send your postal address to themsthebreaksfilm@gmail.com with your full name included. For those of you who availed of higher price perks we will contact you via email from here on out. The postal address is strictly used for us to get the badges out :-)
Thanks for your co-operation and support.
Best,
Sarah B, Sarah C, Aoife and Stephen.

We're funded! So what's next?

Update posted on Tuesday 3rd May '16 @ 10:05:27

Dear funders and new friends,
First and foremost, we'd like to give a huge thank you to all of you who have very generously contributed towards our crowdfund.
Since wrapping up our incredibly successful Fundit campaign on April 8th, it's been full steam ahead! Thanks to you guys we completely smashed our ambitious target and reached a whopping €11,272! We're still blown away by the level of friendly support, generosity and encouragement we received from all of you. We had an unforgettable crowdfund journey from getting articles written about us, giving interviews with newspapers and radio, recording podcasts, chatting with politicians and establishing our new support base.
Since wrapping up the crowdfund, we've been busy planning the next stages of our 'Them's The Breaks' adventure. We've been working hard in development, securing more incredible contributors for the film. We want to ensure that we create an incredible film that really pays homage to the great work being done right now and also that is reflective of your wonderful help and support.
We've also been burning the midnight oil here at 'Them's The Breaks' HQ stuffing envelopes with thank you notes and glossy badges which you can all expect to receive in the post before the end of May.
For those of you who contributed €25 or more we shall be in touch in due course about our 'Them's The Breaks' feminist panel discussion regarding venues, date, time and of course the exciting events taking place that day! The same applies for those of you who availed of the filmmaking workshop day. We'll be holding both of these events towards the end of summer so be sure to keep you diaries clear! Expect to see your DVD, HD Download and film poster perks after the film is finished and has been released.
We have some exciting developments to share: We're delighted to have the extremely talented Cara Holmes come on board as our editor. Holmes has ten year experience working as a freelance editor and has been involved in some extraordinary documentaries. You can check out her fantastic work at caraholmes.com. We're also very close to attaching our Director of Photography and Co-Writer. We plan to continue filming until November. We're going to make a film you can be proud of. A film that Ireland can be proud of. A film that women worldwide can be proud of.
We'll be in touch regularly with updates from the team about filming and other important developments. We were blown away by your engagement with us on Facebook and Twitter throughout our crowdfund campaign. Your posts, tweets, messages and links shared helped us massively with research. We'd love for you to keep in touch with us on social media and share any ideas that you may have for this film. We'll be actively online during production sharing news, photos and sneak peaks so keep your eyes peeled. This is only the beginning.
Thank you!
Your 'Them's The Breaks' team:
Sarah B, Sarah C, Aoife and Stephen.

Matchfund Day and Update!

Update posted on Monday 4th April '16 @ 02:04:31

Oops! That last update may not have looked right in your email! Here's the update again, in case you had any difficulty reading the last one;
With only 4 days left of our crowdfunding campaign we’re delighted to announce that an anonymous funder has come on board and agreed to match the total funds raised today, so every pledge made between 7am and midnight today will be doubled! We are currently at 66% and hoping today’s Match Day will push us significantly closer to reaching our €10k target!
We’re so delighted by the amount of support we’ve received since the start of the campaign! Every time you tweet about us or share our link on facebook, we come one step closer to making this really important project a reality! Please continue to spread the word about the project, especially today as your efforts will essentially be doubled!
This week was a huge week for us. Our Writer Stephen Elliott, Producer Sarah Barr and Director Sarah Corcoran all graduated from DCU’s MA in Film & TV Programme, we were featured in The Irish Times Magazine’s ‘What’s Hot’ section (we’re hot), we received a whole load of online media coverage (links below), and we chatted to Newstalk’s Dil Wickremasinghe about the importance of reaching our target!
Thank you so much for coming on board with us to help make Them’s The Breaks a reality - we really couldn’t do this without your support! Keep sharing the page on social media and let your friends and peers know about our Match Day today! Just 4 days to go!
TTBfilm
Newstalk Interview
http://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/Global_Village/about/
Rabble Interview
http://www.rabble.ie/2016/03/29/breaking-even/
UCD Observer Interview with Eva Griffin
http://www.universityobserver.ie/otwo/documenting-the-feminists/
Ireland News Today Interview
http://irelandtodaynews.com/index.php/documentary-seeks-to-empower-women-in-irish-theatre-and-film/

Match Day!

Update posted on Monday 4th April '16 @ 02:04:14

With only 4 days left of our crowdfunding campaign we’re delighted to announce that an anonymous funder has come on board and agreed to match the total funds raised today, so every pledge made between 7am and midnight today will be doubled! We are currently at 59% and hoping today’s Match Day will push us significantly closer to reaching our €10k target!
We’re so delighted by the amount of support we’ve received since the start of the campaign! Every time you tweet about us or share our link on facebook, we come one step closer to making this really important project a reality! Please continue to spread the word about the project, especially today as your efforts will essentially be doubled!
This week was a huge week for us. Our Writer Stephen Elliott, Producer Sarah Barr and Director Sarah Corcoran all graduated from DCU’s MA in Film & TV Programme, we were featured in The Irish Times Magazine’s ‘What’s Hot’ section (we’re hot), we received a whole load of online media coverage (links below), and we chatted to Newstalk’s Dil Wickremasinghe about the importance of reaching our target!
Thank you so much for coming on board with us to help make Them’s The Breaks a reality - we really couldn’t do this without your support! Keep sharing the page on social media and let your friends and peers know about our Match Day today! Just 4 days to go!
TTBfilm
Newstalk Interview
http://www.newstalk.com/podcasts/Global_Village/about/
Rabble Interview
http://www.rabble.ie/2016/03/29/breaking-even/
UCD Observer Interview with Eva Griffin
http://www.universityobserver.ie/otwo/documenting-the-feminists/
Ireland News Today Interview
http://irelandtodaynews.com/index.php/documentary-seeks-to-empower-women-in-irish-theatre-and-film/

Let's keep the momentum up!

Update posted on Tuesday 22nd March '16 @ 03:03:35

Dear Friends / Funders,
Two weeks into our crowdfund journey and we've already hit the 35% mark! We're overwhelmed with the support so far and hope the momentum will continue as we aim to reach our €10,000 target by April 7th.
Crowdfunding can be daunting, but we feel so lucky to have the amazing support we do from people who, like us, recognise the need for greater gender balance in our arts sector and want to do something to help in implementing that.
Your engagement on twitter and Facebook is so important to us - and very fun too! If you'd consider sending an email about us, we'd be ever so grateful as that is the best guaranteed way of getting more contributors... peer-to-peer funding! If you'd consider it, we'd really appreciate it.
This week we're planning a big press push as well as targeting international resources. We've had a lot of fun so far speaking with Irish press and podcasting with Film Ireland & Scannain. (Links below!)
A massive thanks again for the incredible support so far.
17 days to go!
TTBfilm
Journal.ie Article:
http://www.thejournal.ie/thems-the-breaks-fundit-gender-inequality-arts-ireland-2667488-Mar2016/
Scannain Podcast:
http://www.scannain.com/interview/listen-scannain-talks-thems-breaks
Film Ireland Podcast:
http://filmireland.net/2016/03/20/film-ireland-podcast-episode-20/